7 things we know about Search Party Season 2

Search Party Season 2 is now available to watch online in the UK on All 4.

Season 1 was last year’s best sleeper hit, released all-at-once on All 4 on Boxing Day (read why you should watch it here).

Alia Shawkat stars in the fantastic mystery drama, which follows Dory, a fragile, frustrated, life-long doormat, who’s not particularly proud of her impact on the world. So when she learns that Chantal, a girl she barely knew in college, has gone missing, she becomes obsessed with finding her. But Dory and friends – including clueless boyfriend Drew (John Reynolds), self-diagnosed narcissist Elliot (John Early) and struggling actress Portia (Meredith Hagner) – are not crime solvers. The result is a hilariously hapless investigation that spends more time uncovering their own privileged self-absorption than anything meaningful. (Listen to us discuss it on our podcast, The VOD Pod.)

With Season 2 on the horizon, Alia Shakwat and executive producers Charles Rogers and Michael Showalter spilled the beans to Entertainment Weekly on what’s in store.

Here are seven things we know about Search Party’s second season:

Warning: This contains spoilers for Season 1. Not caught up? Read our review.

1. The Chantal mystery is put to rest

Season 1 ended up with Dory, Drew, Elliott and Portia finally cracking the mystery of where Chantal (Clare McNulty) disappeared to. The answer? She just ran away to her friend’s holiday home after getting dumped by her married boyfriend. Chantal herself, though, is still going to prove something of a problem.

“At the end of the first season, the friends find the missing Chantal, though what had happened to her was actually nothing like any of Dory’s theories,” explains Rogers. “This season takes the reality of ‘saving’ someone a step further, because now that they’ve found Chantal, they have to deal with her. And she’s ultimately just a really irritating brat.”

2. There’s a dead body to deal with

If that wasn’t bad enough, private detective Keith (Ron Livingston) turned up shortly after Dory and co., only to end up accidentally dead. And so they have to work out how to get away with murder – and how to bury a dead body.

“We wanted the actors to actually go through the full action of throwing the body in a hole and completely covering it up, which was a very realistic and unsettling thing to watch,” says Rogers, “even if Portia didn’t have the right shoes for that kind of activity.”

“That’s them hiding any evidence as best they can, and each step of the way realising they f—ed up,” adds Shawkat. “They’re like, ‘Wait, what about fingerprints?’ ‘Wait, what about this, what about that?’ It’s almost the YouTube version of ‘How do you bury a body?’”

3. Dory has some growing up to do

Dory has some growing up to do, as she faces the repercussions of turning herself into a hero in her own true crime mystery.

“A lot of this season deals with the guilt Dory feels about her actions in season 1,” cmments Showalter. “It manifests itself in lots of different ways, and that makes her a paranoid and unstable character.”

“I’m being honored for finding Chantal, and Chappaqua is the city that she’s from,” elaborates Shawkat. “It’s a bougie, older white people environment, and I’m very uncomfortable for being there naturally and I don’t give a very great speech..”

4. There’s a major a new character

Giving Dory an award for finding Chantal is Mary (J. Smith Cameron), described by Shawkat as a “huge character” in this season.

“She’s presenting me with the award, she’s running for Senate, and she is a big part of the season. She has a lot of stuff with Julian (Brandon Micheal Hall). Julian and I end up working at her campaign,” she explains.

“The arrival of Mary alters Dory and Julian’s relationship, and poses challenges to Julian’s strict code of morality,” adds Showalter. “We went through a number of changes to this storyline, and it’s become a really strong aspect to the new season.”

5. Elliott isn’t dealing well with it either

And what about poor Elliott? Well, he’s not dealing well with it either.

“Elliott is starting to have his own personal breakdown,” says Shawkat. “I’ll keep that part a surprise because it’s very funny how he has a meltdown.”

“Elliott’s costumes this season are great,” adds Showalter. “He was always a unique dresser, but events this season take his clothing choices to extremes.”

6. It has a December UK air date

Season 2 will debut on TBS on 19th November, roughly the same time it first premiered in the US last year, with All 4 then adding the whole second run on 19th December.

7. It has some cool Hitchcock-inspired posters

How to get away with murder? It’s precisely the kind of classic premise that makes this hipster Hitchcock series so fun – and to prove the point, TBC has also commissioned a set of cool, Saul Bass-riffing posters to go with Season 2:

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